Answers to Fundamental Travel Questions About Morocco

Experiencing Morocco

AZDEAN 0:07

Welcome to the Destination Morocco podcast , the show that takes you way to the beautiful country of Morocco . I am your host , Azdean Elmoustaquim . In each episode , we explore Moroccan culture , history , attractions and activities real and practical information coming from experienced travelers and native Moroccans like myself . Our goal is to help travelers that are struggling with planning any type of trip to Morocco . Our company , Destination Morocco , builds personalized tour packages that will ensure you enjoy our country just like local .

MAXX 0:52

Follow us at DestinationMoroccoco .

AZDEAN 0:56

And now let's go exploring . Maxx Welski's Travel Diary . Max fell in love with photography as a child . It was a hobby she shared with her father . She always had a camera in hand , but college and career took over until her daughter was born . She could not believe how quickly she changed from one day to the next . The only way to hold on to each precious moment was to take as many pictures as possible . Her friends asked her to photograph their families , and when her son went to kindergarten , max and me became a business . It is a passion to capture the memory of a life , that moment , and to be able to share it for generations to come . When I love this quote from your website , max the best things in life are the people you love , the places you have seen and the memories you have made along the way . Wow , that is amazing . Max , I'm so excited to have you with us today and I can't wait for you to share the way that you have experienced Morocco without audience . Max , welcome to the Destination Morocco podcast . So , max , welcome to the podcast .

MAXX 2:22

Thank you .

AZDEAN 2:23

You just came back from your trip to Morocco . We have been working on your itinerary for some time . When did you decide actually to go to Morocco and how long it took you to plan it ?

MAXX 2:33

I decided to go . I think it was in January of 2022 . It took me to plan it . I used up all the six months of time before I left , but , honestly , there did come a point where I was like , okay , I'm done planning , I just need to go now because I can't plan any more things . But I did find the planning a little bit challenging , which is how I found you .

AZDEAN 2:59

Well , the planning can absolutely be challenging , and I totally agree , because even for me and my family , when we planned a trip to Morocco , we used to plan it for a year , but now we do six months to nine months . So in your case I completely understand , and you did six months , january to June . That's perfectly fine , that's very normal . Now you went to the trip without your family and how did your family feel about you going by yourself or with a friend to a very strange country to completely you know it's Morocco , in Africa . So how did they feel about that ?

MAXX 3:34

Well , I'm very lucky to have a family that is okay with me traveling , and this is not my first trip alone to a strange place . I did go to Cuba without them and I've been to Paris without them , so they were kind of okay in general with me going . But my husband was a little apprehensive about me going to a foreign country without him , where I may not have as much freedom and flexibility as I do here . But once he did a little bit of research about it and talked to people who had been there , he realized that I was going to be okay . I also told him that I would be guided the whole way . I wasn't going to just wander off on my own . So he was okay with that . I did have to make the deal with him that I would have a guide with me the majority of my time .

AZDEAN 4:16

What did your friends say about you or how did they help you in terms of research and what other resources have you used to prepare for your trip before we met ?

MAXX 4:26

Most of the people I know who had been there just said it was wonderful and beautiful and they recommended their tour guides that they used . At that point . I had already discovered your podcasts and I'm one of those people . I'm extremely loyal and so it felt like cheating to go with somebody else , even though I didn't know any of you . But I felt like through your podcast I kind of got to know you and you seemed very nice and friendly and warm . So I was . Even though they recommended people to me , I just went with that .

MAXX 4:53

I did buy some of the guidebooks . There were not many . I really had a choice of two . One of them I didn't like at all , so I focused on the one that I did use , which was Photos , and just looking at pictures on Instagram and following your podcast and Googling , I literally read every word in this book just to figure out where I wanted to go . What I found the hardest part , which is how I agreed to the tour , is that there wasn't a lot of information on how long things take and how long it takes to get from one place to the other . Yes , I can see a place online where I can rent a car , but it's not necessarily that easy . So I think , having never been there , you really need to have a guide the first time . Or company plan the trip for you or help you plan it .

AZDEAN 5:36

I know when you see something on the map , I mean companion Morocco to the US . I mean Texas is bigger than Morocco , but still , there's still a lot of driving , so it's very important to know exactly how it's going to take you from city to city and so forth and so forth . Now , was Morocco exactly what expected it to be ? Is it different than what you had in mind ?

MAXX 5:57

It was really different than what I expected . I expected the entire country to be like the old Medinas and old parts of the town . I did not realize there was like fully modern parts of towns with shopping malls and H&M and Starbucks and all these Mercedes dealerships . I didn't expect that at all , so that was interesting to me . I didn't actually spend any time in those areas , but I would like to go back and maybe see them .

MAXX 6:24

I also wasn't expecting the women to have as much freedom as they do . I mean my first experience when I got off the plane , my Riyadh arranged for a concierge service for me and I had the option of meeting them at the street or meeting me at my gate . So I chose to meet at my gate and it was a woman and I was totally surprised . I didn't know that women could wear skirts . I didn't know that women had that kind of freedom . She was amazing , but it was interesting to see . I expected all the women to be fully covered and very quiet and that was not my experience at all . It's completely different .

AZDEAN 6:58

Yes , and I see that People in the US , especially when they see the media , that's what they see . I mean , that's what they're writing blogs , people who have never been to Morocco . It's really not true . So when you go there's a little bit of a social surprise , just like us . I remember when I first came into the US I mean for me it was time travel I felt like I traveled 500 years from 1995 . So it does take a little bit of adjustment .

AZDEAN 7:22

It took me a while just to comprehend and understand the magnitude of everything , the world that I'm living in now . So I can absolutely relate to you and to people who think Morocco is a certain way and women , women in Morocco , we are equal and it's hard for me exactly to explain it to people , but once they go they see the strength that they have . They have their own businesses in every major platform , pilots , you know , in government , anywhere You'll see the strength of a Moroccan woman and we have a lot of talent in all aspects of everything that we do in Morocco and also in terms of safety , especially for women . How did you feel when it came to your safety during the day , during the night at the Rwiyadh , that you were staying or doing a side visit with the Renshiff Shao and Fasemara Keshwar Taitwan . How did you feel throughout the country when it came to your safety and , in general , women's safety ?

MAXX 8:16

I felt very safe . I never once did not feel safe During the day and we had guides with us , but I felt completely safe without the guide I may have wandered off somewhere , and at night we went out a little bit . We took a taxi to a restaurant and then got in the taxi and came back home . I felt very safe . I didn't necessarily put myself in any situation that could have possibly been unsafe , but overall I felt like the people were very sweet and welcoming and no one was out to hurt me or do anything like that . I felt very safe everywhere , even squeezing myself through the bodies of the square at 11 o'clock at night .

MAXX 8:50

It was lively and all of that . I still felt safe . I don't know that I felt my purse was safe , but I was safe and nothing happened to my purse . But we do have quite a bit of camera gear with us .

AZDEAN 9:01

So a little stressful

Exploring Marrakesh's Day and Night Square

AZDEAN 9:03

. You know the square a lot of people don't know . I mean , the square during the day is different than the square during the night . It becomes a beast at night and it stays that way until 3 or 4 in the morning .

MAXX 9:15

I couldn't believe that I had been during the day . So we were in Marrakesh for a few days before our tour started with you and your friend Yusef took us around . We went to the square during the day and it was chaos and the snakes and the monkeys and the benders and all of that . We walked through the soups , we went on the whole tour and then we came back and we had to walk through it at night . It was packed with people and it's 11 o'clock at night . Like don't people work in the next day ? It's a week at 11 . But you know , when you're there , like at 8 in the morning , everyone's still sleeping . It's not like here , where it's 6 am , people are up jogging and they're going . I mean , at 7 am you can walk around . It's pretty quiet , but there's life . It's a lot of life there .

AZDEAN 9:57

Normally , when I go to the square , it's around 1 am . Honestly , that's the time that I go . Now , if I want to take pictures of the square just before the sunset I'm not sure if you have done it that's what I do . I go about an hour before . I normally go to Café France . It's my favorite spot and I sit at the terrace Normally . The reason why I go an hour before because that's almost the time that it's going to take you to find a seat . And when I do , I take a lot of videos and I take a lot of pictures of the square , the people , the business of the crowd , and then there could be a mosque . It's a beautiful , beautiful sight before the sun goes down . So I'm not sure if you have experienced that .

MAXX 10:33

We did . We went and sat and we got in the exact same thing . I don't know if it's the same restaurant , but we got to the restaurant we had to wait for a table and we got a table on the edge and you can sit there and you see how the square is not that crowded . I mean it's crowded but it's not that crowded . But you suddenly see it gets more and more crowded and more and more people . I just sat there and I'm like who are all these people ? Are they all tourists ? Are they locals ? Like who comes here ? We were leaving dinner . It was , I don't know , 11 , 30 , 12 o'clock . You couldn't walk down the street without being surrounded by people , which is wonderful . I love that there's life . But having just come out of COVID , it was a little unsettling for me , but we were outside . I haven't been this close to people in two years , but it was all good . I did not get COVID while I was there .

AZDEAN 11:20

I'm so glad to hear that . Yes , it does . It does get overcrowded and typically here's the local culture , the local people who go there . They normally work or they hustle one way or another and they are in the outskirts of the Jam Elfna , so they are maybe a few miles away . But for us , like in my case , I'm 30 minute walk from Jam Elfna . So it's not in our culture to go on a daily basis . We'll go when we need to buy something , For example , before the holidays we go , and that's where we buy stuff for us , for the kids and stuff like that , but otherwise we don't go . We just don't .

AZDEAN 11:54

Now , in terms of the locals also the Moroccans , people from Kazablanca , it's very popular Rabat from other cities , the square is very popular for them . They see it with the tourist eye versus us . We see it as a local and it's like there's nothing for me . I'm not going to go , but for me now , because I travel , I treasure it even more so whenever I have an opportunity to go , I go , but I always go with somebody . On your itinerary that you had , you had a few days before you started your tour with us and you had a couple of days after your tour finished with us . Tell us about the couple of days in terms of things that you have experienced before we started the tour . I know you said that you spent some time with yourself and he's amazing , and then afterwards you had to think a couple of days . If you can tell us as well what you have done in those days ?

MAXX 12:40

So the first couple days we were in Marrakesh and the first two days we had Yusef take us around . I love to plan trips , like 90% of the trip is planning it and then I just get to go and do it . But I am not used to anyone telling me where I'm going what order I'm going in or any of that . So I feel like from your side I'm probably a very difficult client .

AZDEAN 13:01

I'm not saying that .

MAXX 13:02

I try not to be , but I had a whole list of where I wanted to go and all of that he picked us up .

Traveling in Morocco

MAXX 13:09

We started the tour at the Marjorail garden .

AZDEAN 13:12

Yes , marjorail yes .

MAXX 13:13

Marjorail , which was beautiful and lovely . We saw a bunch of things because I had said to him you know , what day are we gonna do this , what day are we gonna do that ? He's like , let's just meet and what we don't do the first day will do the second day , or how . He's very flexible , which was great , because we kind of got everything done the first day , so then the second day we got to just enjoy things . My friend , who I was traveling with , really wanted to hold a monkey , so we went and did that .

AZDEAN 13:38

Oh nice .

MAXX 13:39

We looked at camels and we went shopping a little too much shopping and my bag was delayed a little bit , so we got to tour the airport a few times . That was fun . So those were the first two days . He recommended places for us to have dinner as well , which was also sitting in the square and seeing all the people . And then the third day we were there , I had booked a group tour out to the Atlas Mountains to see a waterfall and ride some camels . So we did that . And then the next day is when your tour started , which was wonderful . We did all that . And then at the back end I had booked a group tour to go to a Suera .

MAXX 14:15

It's a way I cannot say that name it is so hard for me a Suera . But we realized it was going to be a very like a nine-hour tour and we were gonna go see things we had already seen maybe two or three times on our trip . So I canceled that and we continued our tour leader and driver that you provided and we went out to a Suera For the day , which I loved . I wish I could have stayed a couple nights in there in the town , yes , but I'm also a big Game of Thrones fan , so it was very fun for me to stand at the gate when DeMora has been asked before .

AZDEAN 14:46

Oh , that's amazing .

MAXX 14:47

So those were our two days and I was gonna say One of our outings was I had to buy a suitcase for all the things that I purchased , which also turned out to not be big enough , so I had to buy another suitcase .

AZDEAN 14:59

Oh my gosh , you know that's . That's the thing that a lot of people don't pay attention to is , when you go to Morocco , I swear to you you will come back with a lot of things that you buy , and when you buy them in pieces and pieces , you don't realize the weight , and then you don't realize how much you have bought Exactly . And I think that's exactly what happened to you , max . I mean , when you go to the square , when you go too fast , when you go to a Suera , there's things in the market you just have to have . So in your case , what was that one thing that you have to have anywhere that he went ?

MAXX 15:32

Oh , the one thing there wasn't like one thing I had to have . I guess there were a lot of things I wanted , like I really wanted our gun oil . I bought a whole bunch of pillows from my backyard and I got slippers and I got bags . Ceramics I bought a lot of ceramics which were very hard to get home because they have to go in your carry-on bag .

AZDEAN 15:51

Oh , I see yeah they're breakable .

MAXX 15:53

Some of it I got in my luggage . Oh yes , scarves . I love scarves . I had a huge scarf collection and I really , really wanted to get scarves , so it was very hard to limit myself . I think I came home with five . I could have bought more . I could have bought every color . I could have bought a bread spread . I could have bought linens for my Dining room table . Like there's so many things , but like I didn't know how I was gonna get that home . One of the things was because we had a car and driver for our tour from Marrakesh all around . We sometimes left the bags in the car and so by the time we got to the last stop , you don't realize how much you have , because it's all been in the car in the back that you don't see . So they brought out my bags and I'm like what is all this ?

MAXX 16:41

That is funny but I can still off the top my head . Right now I'm thinking I should have bought that , I should have bought that , but I'll go back one day and buy more .

AZDEAN 16:48

Oh , definitely , yes , yes . So in terms of the culture and the friendliness of the people , how was it for you , especially when it took the trip to the mountains ? If you can tell us a little bit about that ?

MAXX 16:59

the people are so nice and friendly and welcoming . The hospitality that I experienced from the managers of our Riyadh and the guides was Unbelievable . I think I mentioned that my bag was delayed . It was the second day and I'm still in the same clothes and I was literally . I couldn't forget how to work the phones and so I went to the lobby to ask them to help me make a phone call and the manager was like , let's just go to the airport . I'm like but you're working , it's okay . He got a car . He got in the car , he took me to the airport . He helped me with the bag . He took me to H&M to get some clothes . I've never experienced somebody that kind in my life . When we did the day trip to the Atlas Mountains , our guide took us to his childhood home .

MAXX 17:44

Served us tea and gave us a whole explanation about the Burberry culture . While we were there , one of the call to prayer happened . It was just magical . Everyone was so kind that my guides gave us gifts at the end of our tour . They're still messaging me to make sure I got home . Okay , how my trip was . They're just wonderful and they seem very Welcoming and eager to have tourists come , like they really want people to come and see their beautiful country .

AZDEAN 18:12

Oh , absolutely , I completely agree . You know , covid has affected us all in the worst possible way , but he also made us appreciate everything , to the smallest details , when somebody comes and experience that culture , that's what we want , you know . We want them to experience us . The Burbers , you know , in the city , in the mountains , and of course there is a difference . But in the mountains when I tell people you cannot walk from the beginning of a village To where it ends without somebody asking you at least seven times to come and get some tea with them , and sometimes they get offended because they want you . You know , just bless that house with your presence . You know what I'm saying . So it's , it's kind of strange but incredible culture at the same time .

MAXX 18:52

It's very interesting to experience it , because when you hear about it I was like , oh , I don't know . You know , like that's weird people . I don't want to go in people's homes , like there's COVID . I mean , I've spent two years not leaving this little room that I'm in right now and then all of a sudden I'm like in another country , on another continent . But when you go they're so kind and sweet , like you can see . They're just want to feed you , they just want to be hospitable and give you tea and talk to you , and it's wonderful , it's lovely , it's like going home , even though that's not your home .

AZDEAN 19:23

Thank you . Thank you , I'm so glad to hear that . So during your time , I think you went in a really , really good time . Early June Was everyone packed with tourists ? Anybody went , or was it okay Travel around from city to city ? How was it ?

MAXX 19:39

I'm not gonna say it was packed with tourists , but it was definitely full . Most of our riyadhs , I think . All the rooms were full . The streets were filled with people . I mean , the only time I really experienced a packed situation was at night in the square .

AZDEAN 19:54

On this quit yes .

MAXX 19:55

Other than that it wasn't really necessarily packed , but there were a lot of people . It was definitely a touristy time to go . It was also kind of hot , not super hot . I'm from LA so I used to warm weather . I was listening to one of your podcasts and the woman was talking about all the beautiful sunsets . I didn't see one sunset , because cloudy most of the day , which was great because it wasn't as hot , is it what ? If I mean , I would say it's probably a good time to go . I think the beginning of June is good . Any later it might have gotten a little too hot and maybe I don't know how crowded it normally is in the summer , but it was getting a little warm .

AZDEAN 20:31

Well , june , I would say it's still a perfect time for me when I go , because it's not really that hot and I can travel to the beach , the mountains , everywhere , and it's still nice in a way . July and august I always say , stay away , because all the morocans everywhere that's the time that they go back to Morocco it gets really , really , really crowded . Then you add that to the tourists , everything goes expensive , not available to crowd it in where you go and you may not enjoy it as much . For me , that's how I see the summer . The summer is not my favorite time to go to Morocco , but I'll still go to Morocco in summertime if I have to yeah , yeah , the spring and the fall is nice .

MAXX 21:09

It wasn't crowded , but it wasn't empty .

AZDEAN 21:12

March , april that's the high season . It gets really popular in the spring . Time is definitely , I agree with you , is the perfect time to go , if your schedule allows it .

MAXX 21:21

That's generally when I try to travel .

AZDEAN 21:22

Yes , so the itinerary that I have made for you . I made two itineraries , the first one and the second one , and it's kind of strange because those itineraries I really get connected to them emotionally . They mean so much to me . In each itinerary for each client is different . It takes a few days to make it , but I have to connect to it first before I make it . I have to mold it to you . When we do our calls , discovery calls , and you tell me all the things that you want to see , I put all that information in the itinerary , then add the images to it in the videos . Were you happy with the itinerary ? I tried to make it more live itinerary than anything else . So how was yours ?

MAXX 22:02

I loved that you had the pictures , because I don't know what I'm looking at . I'm just reading letters . So having the photos really really helped me , especially since I'm a planner . If I could look at it and go , okay , guess that looks great .

MAXX 22:14

Oh no , I don't necessarily need to see that in my limited time or whatever it was , but I did really enjoy the presentation of your itinerary and I think that you planned Perfectly all the things that I wanted to see . Thank you , I thought we had the right amount of time in all the cities . Each city we went to was a little bit different . They're all unique in their own . With the first itinerary , you had planned for us to do a sleepover in the desert , which I think would have been amazing , but we're not really campers . I'm sure there would have been chandeliers and flushing toilets . It all looks very wonderful , but given our limited amount of time , I don't know how we would have fit that in as it was . I felt like we were moving a lot , which was good , so I think it was perfect . I wouldn't have done anything .

AZDEAN 22:58

I'm glad to hear that you know to do the North and the South of Morocco is really challenging . There's a lot of driving . I always recommend doing the North side , then do the South side separately , maybe one week each . I think that's the best way to do it , because you're not going to get tired and you're going to enjoy every city and give it a day or two that it needs to truly visit the city the way that it's supposed to . How was your experience with all the cities that you have visited Casablanca , rabach , fshawen , voli , bili , fas , mkness , ifren , then Marrakesh ? How was it ? And I saw your images on Instagram . They look just amazing . Thank you , incredible , yeah .

MAXX 23:35

Thank you . Well , casablanca , the mosque is breathtaking . You cannot miss that . I don't know if it was our timing or if you made arrangements , but we were literally the only four people in there . It was right before the time to pray , so we actually got shoot out at the very end Not shoot , but you know , they were just very nice and like it's time for you guys to go . But that was amazing . It was so beautiful and I don't care what kind of camera you have , you cannot photograph that in any way . To show its beauty . It requires I don't know what . That was really beautiful . And then we , of course , had to have lunch at Rick's Cafe . I didn't really realize that . Casablanca , there's a beach there .

AZDEAN 24:14

Yeah .

MAXX 24:15

Another friend of mine was also in Morocco and she was posting pictures .

Travel Experiences in Morocco

MAXX 24:19

I'm sure there was a lot more to see in Casablanca than we saw , because that's all we did . We did those two things and then we went on to Rabat , but Casablanca was a more metropolitan city compared to what I saw in Marrakesh . Now , again in Marrakesh , I was only in the old part , except for my trip to the mall . It seemed very different to me . Rabat was like a blur , because we literally came in at dinner , woke up , saw something and moved on to the next place . But I loved the . It was like a castle on the ocean .

AZDEAN 24:47

Yes , it was at the Muzaleem .

MAXX 24:49

Yes .

AZDEAN 24:49

Yeah , at the Muzaleem , because they're all next to each other the Hassan , then Shalla Kasbachala .

MAXX 24:55

Yeah , it was beautiful . So from there we went to Shoshawan , which I think was one of our favorite stops . I mean , it's so beautiful and photographic , just a great little village . The people are so kind and there are cats everywhere .

AZDEAN 25:10

Yes .

MAXX 25:11

And dogs . I'm very happy to see dogs because I'm more of a dog person . We did go up to the Spanish mosque to see the sunset , but again the sun didn't shine that day . As a photographer I already knew well in that we were not going to get a sunset , but that was really fun to even just go up there and see the people and see the city from above . I loved Voli , Belize .

AZDEAN 25:33

Voli Belize yes .

MAXX 25:34

That was amazing the Roman ruins and the whole town . I mean , I've seen Roman ruins all over Europe , but this was like a whole town with kitchens and it was amazing to see . And then Fez , the artisans that we got to see the tanneries and the ceramics . That was amazing . I loved that . I know people say the tanneries smell really bad , but I rode horses for years so I didn't even notice . They give you little mint things that you can smell so that it doesn't smell bad . I didn't even notice a smell , but that's just me . It was really fun . And then we headed back into Marrakesh . From there . We actually didn't go to Ephraim , we decided to just do a straight drive .

AZDEAN 26:16

Oh , I see .

MAXX 26:17

To Marrakesh , which was long .

AZDEAN 26:19

Yeah , that's a lot . Yeah , because it was about a six-hour drive , I remember , and you had the choice to take the freeway or go through the mountains . The mountains would have been a little bit longer , but yeah , it makes sense . Now also , I remember , did you do agafai for the Cameride ?

MAXX 26:33

I did .

AZDEAN 26:33

Okay , agafai , a lot of people , especially during the summertime when you do in the desert tour . They don't go to Merzuga because it's really hard , but they do . Agafai , there's a lot of camps in agafai . Can you tell us a little bit about that experience ?

MAXX 26:45

Well , it was part of a day tour , so we went to a waterfall and then we went to our guide's Berber Village and then we went to agafai to ride camels . It's weird , like you drive out of Marrakesh and all of a sudden you're in like very lush areas with green and waterfalls , and then you're in the mountains and then you're in the desert . The topography just changes . So we went to a camp and I think it's very tourist driven . They dress you up and they put you on a camel and they walk you in a big circle and they bring you back , which was fun . But we really enjoyed it and the camels were very sweet . I heard that they were mean , but I did not see one mean camel and I experienced like three or four of them while I was there .

AZDEAN 27:27

Oh nice .

MAXX 27:28

Yeah , it's funny when you're in Marrakesh . You're just driving in the street and on the corner there's like four camels just hang out , parked with the cars .

AZDEAN 27:35

Yeah , they charge you 10 bucks just for a ride . It's a little bit pricey , but Agafai is definitely an amazing place and also a lot of weddings are held in the Agafai . There's so many camps . So instead of going to Merzuga and doing a wedding in Merzuga , a lot of people choose to do Agafai , because it's close to Marrakesh and they can be back and forth , you know , at the main hotel .

MAXX 27:55

At that point I think we were like on day 10 or day 11 . Yeah , and it really does get to a point where you're just like I can't .

AZDEAN 28:02

You're absolutely right and this is the reason why I always recommend to split the country into two the North side and the South side . Yeah , you're going to have fun in 15 days , but you will absolutely be tired Now throughout your experience and the tour . It sounds amazing . How was the food for you ?

MAXX 28:18

The food was really delicious . I'm sort of a picky eater and I just lost some weight so I don't normally eat carbs , the amount of bread that you're given quite a treat . So at breakfast they bring like five different baskets of five different kinds of bread that all look delicious but I can't eat all that bread . That was honestly one of the challenges for me was not being tempted by the delicious looking bread because I really didn't want to gain 30 pounds on my trip . But overall I mean the tangines , the couscous , the pastilla just so delicious I didn't have a bad meal the whole time .

MAXX 28:56

I'm glad to hear that Was all very yummy .

AZDEAN 28:59

What has been the most interesting item of food that you have tasted in Morocco , Something you know .

MAXX 29:04

We had camel .

AZDEAN 29:05

Oh , my God .

MAXX 29:07

Our tour leader suggested we have camel .

AZDEAN 29:09

Ilyas .

MAXX 29:10

Yes , I'm worried , like when I travel , about what I eat , because I do have a sensitive system . They can't just eat everything , like I tried not to drink the water and I didn't eat fruits and vegetables or a wash in water because I didn't want to get sick . So Ilyas took us to literally a local street place , like you walk down the street and you just walk in and there's a little table . I was really outside of my comfort zone but it was delicious and they were so kind . They made us fresh mint tea while we were sitting there . It was supposed to be camel sandwiches , but again that comes on a piece of bread , so they had sandwiches . I had just the meat with some sides but it was delicious .

MAXX 29:47

It was like a burger , maybe a little more tender than a burger . That was the most interesting thing that I ate .

AZDEAN 29:53

What city did you have it ?

MAXX 29:54

I think it wasn't a stop in between , maybe Rabat and Shoshawan .

Traveling in Morocco

AZDEAN 29:59

The funny part you said camel sandwich . Angel , just in the last episode , said camel sandwich . I know camel sandwich . The demand on camel sandwich is going to go high right now .

MAXX 30:09

Before camels , I don't know .

AZDEAN 30:11

I actually did a camel tagine on the way to Mirzuga my last visit . I went with the family , my wife and sister . We had it for lunch but they could not eat until the next day . For me I think I gained 20 pounds just between Mirzuga and that tagine . I was nervous I just ate that tagine and we go into Mirzuga right in the camel and I was like I hope he doesn't smell his cousin , I just ate his cousin . It was funny , but it does fill you up , it really does .

MAXX 30:41

It's very rich .

AZDEAN 30:42

Yeah , and you're very brave , I mean .

MAXX 30:44

I guess they offered me to try it , so I tried it .

AZDEAN 30:47

When I was a kid I tried it . It was just like ground meat . That's what I tried . Normally for us in Morocco it's going to sound kind of weird , but we eat it raw . That's what I did as a kid . I ate that meat raw .

MAXX 30:58

You are very brave .

AZDEAN 31:01

Back then I was In terms of packing , max . We did an episode about packing a few weeks ago . What are the things that you cannot travel without to a third world country , especially to Morocco ? What is it that you have to have with you at all times ?

MAXX 31:17

Well , I'm going to say a modium because the food is different than the food that I have at home . There was one day where it wasn't from the water or anything we ate . I think there were olives at the restaurant that we had the night before because one of our guides on our tour was also not feeling so great that day . The modium helped me within an hour and he was a poor guy . We're driving and every hour or so we had to keep stopping . So I asked him are you not feeling well ? And he explained that he wasn't doing so great . So I gave him a modium and he was like wow , this stuff really works . It's amazing . So I would say that what else could I not travel with your sense of humor , your sense of adventure , those kinds of things .

AZDEAN 31:58

Yes .

MAXX 31:59

I mean , my bag was delayed . I didn't have anything for the first 48 hours other than what I brought with me . You don't really tell me how much you miss a hairbrush when you don't have one . Be flexible . Travel is a challenge . It's wonderful and it's great to see all the things , but you have to be flexible . And no matter how well you prepare and I'm telling you , I have trips planned down so prepared Once I get on the plane I throw my plans out the window because I just want to go and experience where I am . The plan really just sort of helps me not lose focus and be able to see all the things I want to see . You just have to be flexible . If something doesn't go as planned , you just kind of have to go with it , and sometimes that turns out to be the best experience of your trip , because you weren't expecting it and it was a surprise .

AZDEAN 32:43

Absolutely , absolutely . What kind of tip or advice would you give to the listeners if they are traveling to Morocco , whether with us or with somebody else , or just on their own ?

MAXX 32:53

The colors and the people and there's so much to see . We live in a world of phones and cameras and everybody's taking pictures and selfies Everywhere we went . Even our guys were like , oh , this is a really Instagramable place . And I'm like you know , it's not all about Instagram and photos . Trust me , I came home with 4,000 photos , like I took a photo of everything . But my advice would be to just really experience what you're doing and not just snap photos . Really , take a moment and look at the flowers and the people , the little cats in the streets . Take a moment to experience it in real life . Also , say yes If someone asks you to try a camel burger . You don't have to eat the whole burger , but you can take a bite and try it . Someone wants to invite you into their home in a mountain village where I don't know that that's a safe thing to do , but I'm with 20 other tourists on a bus . I'm sure it's fine . Go , because it was amazing . You got to say yes to things as long as they're not doing something stupid .

AZDEAN 33:55

That's a really good advice , definitely , definitely , in terms of when you have traveled , when we're working on your trip . In your case , we made some changes . We added a few things . You may not notice them , but Ilyas is an amazing tour leader . That's one of the additions that we added because we don't want you to feel like somebody's taking advantage of you , whether you know it or not know it .

AZDEAN 34:18

I do the best that I can to utilize the people that I know , because they have your best interest . Then , when you go for food to eat at a restaurant , if you don't know somebody , or somebody doesn't send you to that place , you may not get the best experience . You may not get the best cut of meat or fish or chicken . That's what we do behind the scene . Before you go , we say , hey , we have a special guest , they need special attention , special care and so forth . Also , we talked about shopping experience . That can really cause a lot of damage financially .

AZDEAN 34:50

As we're speaking , sam is going to go to different cities to set up everything that we need to set up shops . That way , when you go shopping , those people , they are our people . We know they are not going to cheat you out of your money . They are not going to cheat you out of the quality of the product that you're going to buy . A lot of people may not know , but anywhere you go , there's kickbacks , there's commission , whatever you want to call it . Personally , I'm not against it , but I'm against taking advantage of the client , taking advantage of our guests to view Max , because we have experienced it . Sometimes we don't see it at the moment , but it's already too late . Can you tell us about your experience in terms of shopping in Marrakesh , in FAS as well , with Fatim Zahra and Elias ? I'm not there , but I talk to them on a daily basis .

MAXX 35:34

They were all fantastic . I would have easily been completely taken advantage of had I not had them with me . I'm the kind of person where if you tell me something's $5 , I'll just say , fine , I might even give you $6 because you're nice to me . I am not a bargain shopper at all . In the beginning , when we were first there with Yusef , he was doing all the bargaining for me . I'm just like , okay , I'd like to buy this , please bargain for me , because I don't even know how to do it .

MAXX 35:59

I felt like he was guiding us to higher quality vendors . To me it all looks amazing , but I don't really know what the difference is , because at that point we'd only been there . It was the first couple of days . I got a little more savvy by the time I got to FAS . Then , when we were with Sahara in FAS , I knew she was taking me to a high quality place . We went in toward a ceramics I don't know if you call it factory or vendor artisan but they explained to us how they made it . They showed us , they literally stood on the plates and said you can buy these on the street and if you step on them they're going to break .

MAXX 36:34

That's right , you can step on ours . In fact , later on we were in Marrakesh . I was like , oh , should we step on those and test them out ? I knew I was buying very high quality items . She took us to a scarf place in FAS where I bought the five scarves . I knew that they were very high quality , because that's what I want . I'd rather pay $10 for something that's a high quality than a dollar for something that's not . At the end , I wanted to get some spices . Someone had asked me to bring them the spice that I can't pronounce . That is completely Moroccan . It's like Khasra mousse , something .

AZDEAN 37:06

I think I know which one Ras al-Hanud .

MAXX 37:08

Yes , this one . He's like oh , you can't just buy that anywhere because it's been COVID , it's been stored for a while . Let me take you to a high quality place . This place was amazing . I looked like I was on a store on Montana in Santa Monica . It was really visually beautiful . Everything was high quality . I appreciated being taken places where I knew I was getting quality things and I was not being taken advantage of . As you were saying , they do give a commission to their guides . I'm fine with that . If someone recommends me as a photographer , I'm going to buy them a coffee or give them a gift to thank them for recommending me . I think that's a great way to do things so that I'm not taken advantage of . I do come home with quality things . If I come home and it falls apart , then that's not good for me either .

AZDEAN 37:52

Absolutely . I don't have an issue with the commission . We don't get it , we don't take it . It's not our intent . But also , I don't have a problem paying $6 for something that it's worth $5 . Paying $500 , I have an issue with that . Later on in the season I'm going to do another episode about scams . This is going to be one of the major topics . The reason is because there's a lot of tour operators . They know and they do collect it , but the public is not aware of it . For me , we have to be as transparent as possible . We're not perfect . We do make mistakes Behind the scenes . There's always something that we need to adjust , we need to improve . That's the reason why we do the feedback . When you come back and Sam comes and sees you , that feedback is priceless to us . That's really . Really one of the most important steps for us is the feedback we get from you , especially at the end of the tour .

MAXX 38:42

Not just the shopping , the restaurants and the food . All the places that they recommended were wonderful and delicious . Our re-ons that you chose were beautiful as well .

AZDEAN 38:51

Oh , thank you so much . Thank you , Just like you said , with COVID , so many people were out of business , so many changes . The people that we used to work with they moved and so forth and so forth . So we always had to keep on the lookout . A new place , Is this a good fit for us ? Is this a good fit for our clients ? The other question that I have would you recommend Morocco to people ?

MAXX 39:09

Of course I would recommend .

AZDEAN 39:10

That was a tricky question .

MAXX 39:12

You know it has so much history and beautiful places . It is definitely something to see . The outside perception of Morocco is not necessarily accurate At least it wasn't to me so I feel like you kind of have to go see it to believe it . The shopping is amazing and , as a photographer , it's just , it's a dream . I would definitely recommend it to people . Each city is a little bit different , so there's a little bit for everybody . I was very nervous going with a tour company . I've never done that . I found you in a podcast and online and you know you did this whole episode on scams and I'm like , oh my God , what if this is a scam ? What if he's like there's not really a person , I'm going to end up in Morocco all by myself and there's nobody to help me , which is part of why I did a lot of research , because I was like , well , I end up , I better be able to you know , survive .

Morocco Private Tour Recommendations

MAXX 40:04

But you turned out to be a real person with a real agency and you guys were amazing . I mean , you picked beautiful riyads for us . Each one was so clean and lovely . The one in FES was amazing , amazing , beautiful beautiful .

AZDEAN 40:19

Thank you , thank you .

MAXX 40:21

Having the tour leader was great . Elias is a great guy and so much fun to be with . I mean , the tour leader is your whole tour , so he really was amazing . You really get to know the people when you're with a local person . The whole time the car was lovely , the driver was great , all the cities you chose and all the things we did within each city was wonderful . I mean , I would have planned it the same myself , and not that I know what I'm doing .

MAXX 40:48

But I was very happy with the way you planned it , and the time that you had us doing everything was great too . You were with me the whole time , like you were texting me , you were making sure I was okay . I felt like you were with us on our tour .

AZDEAN 41:03

Thank you , I'm so glad to hear that . I'm glad to hear that same way because I have to be with you , because it doesn't matter the time of day . You text me . There's no wait time , there's no whole time . You're not going to be on the phone for two , three , four , five hours . No , I text you back right away . It doesn't matter if it's 1pm or 1am or two or three . That's something that it's really , really , really important when you're overseas . Literally , we are like the extension of your family . Your family is in California and we are the extension of your family . We have to be there for you 24 seven .

AZDEAN 41:34

You have access to Ilias , to the driver in the car , 24 seven when the tour starts until the tour finishes . There's about eight or nine people that you have come in contact with that work with us or their affiliates with us . You see , fas has a different culture . Fatima Zahra has a different way of talking to people , different ways showing FAS , and you're only going to get that through a local guide versus a national guide . Ilias is amazing in terms of in between cities , the storytelling , the poet it is incredible him and his stories when he grew up and the village . The drive is very long , so you have to fill it up with something nice , something positive , something good . Also , your tour was very special because you're a photographer . We had to make sure that you see things in certain way .

MAXX 42:19

Yeah , I feel like you definitely were taking care of me from far away , and when you say you're available at all times , I mean literally it was like two in the morning to you and you were right there Texting me back answering my questions .

AZDEAN 42:33

That's what we really do , because we understand sometimes there's a five hour difference , sometimes six , sometimes seven and , just like you said , emergencies happen . You could have eaten a bad olive or bad food and then you get a reaction late at night and you need to get some medicine , go to the hospital . The tour leader stays with you at the hotel or the really other you're in , so he's not off-site or somewhere far . Then the driver somewhere else to get the car no , it's everybody literally is right there next to you . My next question that I wanted to ask you I'm glad that at the end he used us . We're very fortunate .

AZDEAN 43:06

But also a private tour is different than a group tour . The biggest difference really is price . The reason is because you're paying minimum of people in private tourists to , versus in a group tour it's one person , you saving quite a bit because the rooms are a group rate , which is cheaper than the transportation is cheaper as well . So everything is cheaper when you do a group tour versus a private tour . In your case , max , how do you feel between the price that you have paid versus the quality of service that you have received ?

MAXX 43:37

I received way more than what I paid for .

AZDEAN 43:40

Thank you .

MAXX 43:42

My re-ons were beautiful . We had a beautiful car , we had a tour leader , a driver Guides in every city . It was definitely more value for my money than I think it was wonderful .

AZDEAN 43:54

We're so glad to hear that . We're so glad to hear that and you know what .

MAXX 43:57

I probably could have found a group tour , but I wouldn't want to be with all those other people and this way I could Dictate what I wanted to do , like , for example , on the last day when we decided not to go to a friend and just go straight home . We were able to do that because we weren't with a bunch of people . So I definitely recommend that . You know , one thing actually , I would like to share is I was really concerned about what to pack and what to wear , and I know you've gone over this in other episodes , but you know , a lot of times you hear that you're like oh yeah , that's not what they mean .

MAXX 44:25

Truly , you can wear and pack whatever you normally wear in real life . Like I went out and bought a bunch of different tops and longer skirts because I didn't think my shoulders and knees could be shown and , as I said , when I got off the plane , not only was my VIP person a woman , but she was wearing a skirt that showed her knees . So I was like , oh my gosh , your mothers are gonna look at you strange . Like you can't dress like that here in Morocco . But I quickly realized that you can . I mean , I saw girls in crop tops and things that I would definitely not wear or let my daughter Wear , but as a tourist you're not held to the same level of expectation .

MAXX 44:59

Exactly as others . So pack what you normally wear and it'll be good .

AZDEAN 45:03

That's exactly what I said . It's just people . Sometimes they overthink it . You know , I'm more interested and I want to pack , like you said , a modium . I want to pack the toiletries , whatever it is , versus just how to dress up . Yeah , morocco is relatively open outgoing country , but it's gonna take a little bit of time for a lot of people to catch up at less they have visited , and you're absolutely right For you to change that perception . You really have to go . It's a beautiful country . It's extremely diverse in terms of the history .

AZDEAN 45:31

One of my favorite places and I think it doesn't get a lot of credit is volibearish . I love Volibearish . I went twice because the first time we got there it was really hot and had my GoPro and the battery ran out in about an hour . That didn't help . I knew that I could not do the site the actual site but I did the museum . So I just did the front and then I did the museum . It took me 45 minutes just to walk through the museum because I did it the right way , so it was amazing . And also , what a lot of people don't know is they are still looking for the theater in volibearish . Morocco is working with some archaeologists from Europe and they're still working and looking for the mausoleum . So they haven't found it yet , but we know that it's there , so it's probably gonna take a little bit more time to find it . Any other questions that I should have asked you , max , would you go again ?

MAXX 46:22

I would definitely go again . I feel like I really focused on the older cities and the older parts of each city , so I really didn't experience the more modern parts of Morocco . I would like to go and see Tangier and a little bit more of Casablanca . Of course , I'd have to go back to Marrakesh and Fez and I'd have to go back to all the same cities , but I would like to go back .

AZDEAN 46:44

I'm glad to hear that . Well , this concludes our episode . Max , you have been amazing . I really really appreciate you . I appreciate you choosing us as your tour company and I'm very glad and fortunate that you have Experienced everything the way that we wanted you to experience it .

Podcast Listeners Requesting Itineraries for Morocco

AZDEAN 47:02

People , they listen to the podcast and say , hey , you know , max , I really like that itinerary . Can I get the same itiner ? That's normally how it really works .

MAXX 47:09

Yeah , oh , thank you .

AZDEAN 47:11

Thank you , max . Have a wonderful day .

MAXX 47:12

You too .

AZDEAN 47:13

Appreciate it , thank you . Thank you . Thanks for joining us this week on the destination Morocco podcast . Our dedicated show website destination morocco podcast that come is where you can find all of our episodes , leave a review , find our social media links and even register as a guest . If you have been to Morocco yourself and would love to share a story , advice or recommendations , you're welcome to participate in our podcast . Whether it's a five-minute story or full conversation , we will guide you through the steps so that you can share your experience with our listeners . We will be back soon enough with a new episode for you as we continue our exploration of the beautiful country of Morocco . See you then .